PESHAWAR, Jan 29: Rejecting the Model University Ordinance, the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) has urged the NWFP caretaker government not to implement the ordinance and leave a decision on it to the next elected government.

The ordinance dealing with affairs of public sector universities is supported by the Higher Education Commission. Promulgated by the then NWFP governor two years ago, it restricts teachers from forming elected bodies like senate, syndicate and association.

Dr Arbab Khan Afridi, president of the federation, said they feared that Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, who is also the chancellor of University of Peshawar, would promulgate the ordinance again. He said the teachers wanted an elected assembly to decide the issue. The federation, at a meeting held in the Peshawar University Teachers Association office here on Tuesday, demanded that the provincial government should follow the federal government’s decision of leaving education policy matters to the next elected government.

Members of the federation said conditions all over the country, especially in Balochistan and the NWFP, were not favorable to implement any new policy, and educational problems needed proper solution. Any new step would further aggravate the situation, they said.

The federation also decided to hold a demonstration in front of the Peshawar Press Club at 11am on Feb 1 and to set up protest camps in public sector universities all over the country, said a press release. It appealed to the governor to help resolve problems of university teachers through mutual dialogue.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the University of Peshawar, Gomal University, NWFP University of Engineering and Technology, Agriculture University and the Khyber Medical University.

It expressed concern over the attitude of HEC chairman Dr Attaur Rehman who, according to the federation, wanted to implement educational policies without addressing teachers’ reservations.